ALHAMBRA — It took a half for the Keppel High School boys basketball team to get going. And once it did, the Aztecs showed why they can’t be touched in the Almont League.

Visiting Alhambra gave its fans a brief thrill by leading the rival Aztecs by a basket at halftime. The second half was another story and Keppel pulled away for a 57-45 win on Friday night.

“Our kids came back in the locker room (at halftime) and we told them to focus a little more on defense,” Keppel head coach Hung Duong said. “We told our kids we had to come out and make a little run, but at first we have to defend. I thought we did that really well in the first four-five minutes of the third quarter.”

Keppel boosted its record to 21-4 overall and 8-0 in league. The Aztecs entered the night two games up on second-place Schurr. Alhambra fell to 11-14 overall and 3-5 in league.

But at least for a half, the Moors looked like anything but a team that’s likely to sit at home when the playoffs start later this month. Alhambra’s largest lead was 16-10 in the second quarter and the Moors led 26-24 at halftime.

The start of the third quarter was a telling sign of what was about to come. Keppel guard Alex Der stole the ball on Alhambra’s first possession and raced in for a layup that he missed, but stuck with it and got the rebound and put it in to even the score.

Der’s big play sparked a 15-2 run in the third quarter, which was more than enough to give Alhambra doubt heading into the final period. Bertram Mak’s dunk off of a loose ball in the open court early in the fourth quarter gave Keppel a 46-33 advantage.

“He’s just been huge for us,” Duong said of Mak. “We always go through him first. He came out in the third quarter and took care of it for us. He’s very under the radar with a lot of the college teams.

“He does everything for us. As he goes, we go. So tonight, thank God he showed up big in the second half. It’s always tough against Alhambra no matter who has the better team.”

Mak finished with a game-high 32 points.

Keppel’s working on a 14-game winning streak that dates back to December. The Aztecs can lock up the league championship on Tuesday with a win at home against Schurr.

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